Authorities: Princess sold alcohol at cockfights

By JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Video recorded by two informants shows a Romanian princess and her husband, a former sheriff’s deputy, selling alcohol and food at a cockfighting operation they’re accused of running at their ranch in Eastern Oregon, court documents state.

Irina Walker, daughter of the last king of Romania, and her husband, former sheriff’s deputy John Walker, pleaded not guilty last week to charges of running an illegal gambling operation and conspiring to violate the Animal Welfare Act. More than a dozen other people were charged.

In a search warrant affidavit unsealed this week, federal investigators allege that videos show the Walkers selling food and alcohol at some of the 10 cockfighting derbies attended by confidential informants between January 2012 and May 2013. The cockfights were allegedly held on a ranch in Irrigon, Ore., where the couple lived in a triple-wide manufactured home.

The informants were paid and are hoping for favorable treatment by authorities. One is facing accusations of an immigration violation and the other is facing drug charges, according to the affidavit.

Investigators said they seized cash, financial records, cellphones, firearms and “fighting implements.” They also said they took needles, medications and a substance they suspect is methamphetamine. Authorities say roosters are often given drugs to improve their performance in fights.

The affidavit includes numerous details about how the cockfighting derbies were allegedly run.

It states that numerous vehicles would pull up to the Walkers’ residence; drinks were delivered in coolers on a flat-bed truck; and the cockfighting derbies were held in a shed with a metal roof.

It says entry fees were collected by John Walker or one of the other defendants, and a defendant carried a handgun while handling roosters.

Irina Walker, 60, is the third daughter of former Romanian King Michael I. The 91-year-old Michael, one of the few surviving heads of state from World War II, was forced to abdicate by the communists in 1947. Sent into exile, he lived in Switzerland and worked as a commercial pilot and briefly as a chicken farmer.

According to a statement on the royal family’s website, King Michael expressed “deep sorrow” about Princess Irina being arrested and hopes that the American justice system and Oregon courts will act as quickly as possible. He did not mention his son-in-law and added that he hopes the presumption of innocence will function.

Irina Walker moved to the U.S. from Switzerland in 1983 with her former-husband John Kreuger, according to her daughter, Angelica Kreuger of Myrtle Point, Ore. She said her parents were school friends in Europe and her father fell in love with Oregon.

Angelica Kreuger said her mother is proud of her heritage — she keeps a large picture of her father in the living room — but never lived a lavish lifestyle. As for herself, Kreuger said being the child of a princess only got her picked on in school.

Both the Walkers were released pending trial.

Caption 1:Irina Walker is shown in this booking photo provided by the Multnomah County, Ore., Sheriff on Friday, Aug. 16, 2013. Two years ago, Irina Walker hobnobbed with European royalty in Bucharest to celebrate the 90th birthday of her own regal father, former Romanian King Michael I. On Friday, she and her husband John Wesley Walker, a former Oregon sheriff’s deputy, appeared in court to face charges they ran a cockfighting business on their ranch in Eastern Oregon. (AP Photo/Multnomah County Sheriff)

Caption 2:In the image taken Monday Oct. 24, 2011 John Wesley Walker, left, and his wife Princess Irina of Romania, center left, Alexander Phillips Nixon, center right, and Princess Elena of Romania attend the opening of an exhibition in Bucharest. A Romanian princess and her husband, a former sheriff’s deputy, are apparently among several people federal agents arrested in Eastern Oregon on Thursday Aug. 15, 2013 in connection with an alleged cockfighting ring. Indictments unsealed in U.S. District Court in Portland charge Irina Walker, 60, and her husband John Wesley Walker, 67, with hosting cockfighting derbies and illegal gambling at their ranch outside the small Morrow County town of Irrigon. (AP Photo/Razan Chirita/Mediafax) ROMANIA OUT